August has been a relatively quiet month for major market-moving news.

However, the relative calm belies the mountain of uncertainty that the global economy continues to face.

PIMCO's Mohamed El-Erian has repeatedly warned investors not to get too comfortable.

In an email to Business Insider this morning, El-Erian forwarded his list of 8 major questions facing markets and the economy today.

From El-Erian:

Will the Fed taper in September, by how much and why?
Who will succeed Ben Bernanke at the Fed?
Will Congress flirt with a government shutdown?
How will lawmakers handle the debt ceiling?
Where will Chancellor Merkel take European policy after her expected victory in upcoming German parliamentary elections?
How will official creditors respond to requests additional peripheral funding and the need for further debt reduction?
Will Prime Minister Abe come through on Japan’s “third policy arrow”?
How will the regional implications of Syria and Egypt play out?

Stocks are down this month, but the S&P 500 is up 14% since the beginning of the year. Will markets continue to climb this wall of worry?

See Also:

The Economy Invariably Manages To Grow Long After The Housing Market PeaksWe May Be In The Early Stages Of The Next Global Economic CrisisMORGAN STANLEY: Here's Why Syria Could Be Bullish For The Euro

SEE ALSO: ROSENBERG: Here's Why I Finally Gave Up On My 20-Year-Old Deflation Call